Cost of Living
Grocery prices, gas prices, utility costs, inflation impacts on everyday expenses, consumer sentiment, and the real-world financial pressures facing households.
Latest in Cost of Living
Eggs are forecast to fall about 31% in 2026 even as beef and milk keep climbing
One corner of the grocery store is finally moving in the shopper’s favor, and it is the same aisle that inflicted the worst sticker shock...
The average U.S. household will pay roughly $920 more this year because of Trump’s tariffs, one analysis estimates
A year of higher import taxes is quietly landing on kitchen tables, and one estimate puts the average tab at roughly $920 per household for...
A federal Lifeline benefit can trim the monthly phone or internet bill for low-income households
A telephone and internet bill is one of the few household costs that rarely bends, arriving at the same figure month after month regardless of...
Macy’s plans to close about 150 stores by year’s end
Macy’s is closing in on the finish line of a plan to shut roughly 150 of its namesake department stores, a retrenchment that began in...
Trump’s tariffs shrank the trade deficit but pushed everyday prices higher, a new analysis finds
A fresh analysis of the tariff record credits the import duties with a genuine achievement, a meaningfully smaller U.S. trade deficit, while documenting the price...
A federal program can help low-income households cover part of a winter heating bill
A federal program pays part of the heating and cooling bills for millions of low-income households, and can cover an emergency benefit when a shutoff...
Gas near $4.10 a gallon and mortgages close to 7% are squeezing fixed incomes this summer
The national average price of gasoline sat near $4.10 a gallon in late August 2026, while the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed...
Ground beef is up nearly 19% and tomatoes about 50% as tariffs and shortages hit the grocery aisle
Two staples of the grocery cart are climbing far faster than the overall inflation rate. Recent federal data show ground beef up about 18.9 percent...
Coffee is up about 20% and ground beef nearly 19% as tariffs and shortages hit groceries
Two fixtures of the American kitchen are leading the newest run-up in grocery prices, and both hit the kind of everyday shopping that fills a...
Walmart is keeping $2.9 billion in tariff refunds for price cuts while Amazon mails money back to customers
Walmart has collected roughly $2.9 billion in tariff refunds — the largest sum any retailer has reported — and it is keeping the money to...
Amazon is refunding about $600 million in tariff charges to shoppers automatically, with no form to file
Amazon has told investors it received about $600 million in tariff refunds and will hand some of that money back to shoppers automatically — no...
Weatherization assistance can cut a low-income senior’s utility bills with free home upgrades
Heating and cooling a home is one of the largest fixed expenses a retiree on a limited income faces, and it is one of the...
Tariffs are adding about $540 a year to the average grocery bill, and coffee alone has jumped 21%
A round of new import tariffs is quietly reshaping the checkout total for older households on fixed incomes, and the math is starting to bite....
Electricity prices are near record highs around 18 cents a kilowatt-hour, straining fixed incomes
Residential electricity is on track to average about 18 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2026, according to federal forecasters, near the highest level on record and...
A home health aide runs a median $35 an hour, so full-time care can cost more than a nursing home
Aging at home is widely assumed to be the cheaper path, but the arithmetic of hourly care tells a different story. A home health aide...
Assisted living now averages about $6,200 a month, and Medicaid pays only for care, not room and board
Assisted living is often pitched as the affordable middle ground between staying home and entering a nursing home, but the price tag has climbed to...
Several states let homeowners 65 and older defer property taxes until sale
For a homeowner living on a fixed income, a rising property-tax bill can be the expense that forces a sale of the family home. Several...
The national gas price near $4.14 a gallon set a late-summer record
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline sat near $4.14 in the third week of August 2026, a level that price trackers...
A new 50% tariff on Canadian dairy, alcohol and vehicles took effect this week, adding to costs that reach shoppers
A new import tax took effect this week that adds an extra 50% duty on three categories of Canadian goods: dairy products, alcoholic beverages, and...
A federal program helps low-income households cover part of a summer cooling bill, yet most never apply
Every summer, a federally funded program stands ready to help low-income households pay part of a cooling bill or replace a broken air conditioner, and...